The wildfire in Ventura County grew by almost 100,000 acres over the weekend, triggering more evacuations

A
local man tries to cope and prays during an early-morning Creek
Fire that broke out in the Kagel Canyon area in the San Fernando
Valley north of Los Angeles, in Sylmar, California, U.S.,
December 5, 2017REUTERS/Gene
Blevins

Multiple wildfires continue to race through parts of
Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Diego counties in
Southern California.

The largest blaze — known as the Thomas Fire — has
scorched more than 230,000 acres.

Santa Barbara is now threatened by the rapidly-growing Thomas
Fire, as thousands of firefighters battle several infernos
burning through Southern California.

The fire grew by 50,000 acres on Sunday as dry Santa Ana winds
continued, triggering evacuation orders throughout Santa Barbara
County. One death has been blamed on the Thomas Fire: the body of
70-year-old Virginia Pesola was discovered at a car
crash site on an evacuation route in Ventura County on Wednesday
night,
according to NBC.

Over 9,000 firefighters are working across the region to contain
the blazes. Over 1,000 structures have been damaged or
destroyed, and 98,000 people have been forced to evacuate since
the fires started a week ago.

The first and largest blaze, the Thomas Fire, started Oct 4 in
Ventura County. Its flames reached the Pacific Ocean on
Wednesday. Several cities in the Ojai Valley were under
mandatory evacuation orders on Saturday, though some of those
orders have been lifted. Officials issued a new round of
evacuations for residents in Santa Barbara on Sunday, however,
and warned that they may order more on Monday.

Mandatory evacuation orders now affect nearly 100,000 people,
down from 200,000 last week.

A
motorists on Highway 101 watches flames from the Thomas fire leap
above the roadway north of Ventura, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 6,
2017. As many as five fires have closed highways, schools and
museums, shut down production of TV series and cast a hazardous
haze over the region. About 200,000 people were under evacuation
orders. No deaths and only a few injuries were
reported.AP
Photo/Noah Berger

The Skirball fire in Bel Air threatened the Getty Center art
museum, though firefighters had contained 85% of the blaze by
Monday morning and the museum remained unharmed.

Officials called the combination of dryness and powerful winds a
"recipe for explosive fire growth." Wind gusts of up to 80 mph
were recorded on Tuesday,
according to the Los Angeles Times. Mark Lorenzen, the
Ventura County fire chief,
told reporters that the fires' spread had been
"absolutely exponential."

"There will be no ability to fight fire in these kinds of winds,"
Ken Pimlott, California's fire chief,
told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday. "At the end of the
day, we need everyone in the public to listen and pay attention.
This is not 'watch the news and go about your day.' This is 'pay
attention minute-by-minute … keep your head on a swivel.'"

Lorenzen told The LA Times on Thursday that if rains don't fall
on the region, the Thomas Fire could continue burning for weeks.
That prediction has held up as of Monday, as the fire continues
to grow.

"My hope is that within a week, the issues around the
population areas are going to be gone, but then it’s still going
to be up in the forest in the wilderness areas, and it's a
challenge," Lorenzen said. "It's hard to get. The size and the
scope of this thing is going to be enormous."

Officials urged residents to wear masks outside, as the air
quality near the fires was rated "hazardous" — the worst
classification.

Embers
blow from a tree shortly before it fell down near burned cars as
strong winds push the Thomas Fire across thousands of acres near
Santa Paula, California, U.S., December 5,
2017.REUTERS/David
McNew

Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency, freeing up
state funds to help tackle the wildfires.

"This fire is very dangerous and spreading rapidly, but we'll
continue to tackle it with all we've got," Brown said. "It's
critical residents stay ready and evacuate immediately if told to
do so."

Hours before the blazes started on Monday, the NWS warned that
there would "be the potential for very rapid spread of wildfire"
and "extreme fire behavior." Fire danger was rated a 296 on
the brush burning index on Thursday — a record,
according to CNN. The figure is calculated based on moisture
levels, wind, humidity, and a range of other factors. A rating
above 162 is considered the most extreme risk.

California has been ravaged by wildfires in recent months. In
October, a series of fires
destroyed communities in Northern California's Napa and
Sonoma counties in what is considered the deadliest wildfire in
the state's history. Experts said at the time that
it would take years for the state to recover.

Here's a map of the location of the current fires:

Cal Fire

And here's a map showing all of the areas under a red-flag
warning, where there is the highest risk of fire: